Stability analysis of a mixed convection flow over a moving plate with non-uniform thickness

• Published in: Archive of applied mechanics (1991) Vol. 90; no. 7; pp. 1497 - 1507
• Main Authors: Subhashini, S. V., Sindhu, S. Lenin, Vajravelu, K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.07.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Boundary layers; Classical Mechanics; Convection; Differential equations; Diffusion effects; Engineering; Flow stability; Nonlinear equations; Ordinary differential equations; Original; Parameters; Stability analysis; Theoretical and Applied Mechanics; Two dimensional flow; Velocity; Wall thickness; Stability analysis; Non-uniform wall thickness; Shooting technique; Dual solutions; Double diffusion
• ISSN: 0939-1533; 1432-0681
• DOI: 10.1007/s00419-020-01680-9

This paper focuses on the effects of the boundary wall thickness and the velocity power index parameters on a steady 2D mixed convection flow along a vertical semi-infinite moving plate with non-uniform thickness. The effects of diffusion on the velocity, temperature and concentration fields with power-law temperature and concentration distributions at the plate surface are also analyzed. A shooting technique is adopted to obtain dual solutions for the system of nonlinear coupled ordinary differential equations. The significant impacts on the boundary layer development along the boundary surface have been noticed due to the non-flatness of the moving surface. It is noted that the velocity, temperature and concentration profiles admit dual solutions for certain range of unsteadiness parameter. Both, upper and lower branch, solutions are presented to display the effects of the boundary wall thickness and the velocity power index on the flow, thermal and concentration fields. A stability analysis is performed to determine the existence of dual solutions.